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GIFT  OF 


EXCHANGE- 


FEB    3 


Proposed  Charter  for  the 

City  of  Ashtabula, 

Ohio. 

PREPARED  AND  SUBMITTED  BY  THE  CHARTER  COMMISSION: 


DATE  OF  ELECTION 
TUESDAY,  NOV.  3,  1914 


(COPY  OF  BALLOT) 


MUNICIPAL  CHARTER  BALLOT 

AN  ELECTION 

To  Determine — Shall  the  Proposed  Charter  as  formulated 
and  submitted  by  the  Charter  Commission,  elected  Novem- 
ber 4,  1913,  be  adopted. 


For  the  Adoption  of  the  Charter 


Against  the  Adoption  of  the  Charter 


VOTERS     OP     ASHTABUI/A: 

The  large  affirmative  vote  by  which  you  elected  a  Charter  Commission 
less  than  a  year  ago  justifies  the  presumption  that  the  people  of  Ashtabula 
desire  to  consider  a  new  form  of  government.  Believing  this  and  appreci- 
ating the  responsibility  imposed  upon  it,  the  Charter  Commission  has,  after 
mature  deliberation,  incorporated  within  the  following  provisions  those 
principles  deemed  essential  in  a  municipal  government  approximating  the 
highest  standard  of  impartiality  and  efficiency.  The  Commission  has  care- 
fully considered  Charters  from  twelve  other  Ohio  Cities,  so  that  it  can 
truthfully  be  said  that  this  Charter  is  the  product  of  the  combined  wisdom 
of  approximately  200  representative  citizens  of  the  larger  municipalities 
of  Ohio. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  many  important  and  distinctive  features 
embodied  in  the  Charter  submitted  which  render  it  worthy  of  your  earnest 
consideration: 

1.  It  provides  "Home  Rule"  for  Ashtabula,  with  freedom  from  legis- 
lative control  or  interference  in  purely  local  matters. 

2.  It  places  the  administration  of  municipal   affairs  and  the  whole 
responsibility  therefor  in  the  hands  of  a  Council  of  seven  citizens  who  are 
directly  accountable  to  the  people,  thus  avoiding  ,he  shifting  of  duties  and 
responsibilities  among  public  officials. 

3.  It  provides  for  nomination  of  members  of  Council  by  petition  only, 
and  their  election  on  a  non-partisan  ballot.     All  other  officers  are  appointed 
by  the  Council. 

4.  It  provides  for  a  "City  Manager"  selected  by  the  Council  on  ac- 
count of  his  peculiar   fitness   for    business     administration    of    municipal 
affairs.     All  subordinate  officers  and  employees  are  appointed  by  the  City 
Manager,   upon  merit  and   fitness   alone,   thus  tending  to   develop   trained 
public  servants. 

5.  It  makes  the  Council  responsive  to  public  opinion  by  means  of  the 
Initiative  and  Referendum. 

6.  It  furnishes  a  simple  and  direct  method  of  removing  inefficient  or 
corrupt  officials  through  the  Recall. 

7.  It  affords  capable  men  the  opportunity  of  holding  office  during 
good  behavior. 

8.  It    aims    to    promote    better    Civil    Service    regulations    to    insure 
continuance  in  office  of  competent  employees. 

9.  It  requires  public  hearings  upon  money  appropriations. 

10.  It  secures  full  publicity  of  official  acts,  yet  eliminates  wasteful 
methods  of  legal  advertising. 

11.  It  creates  a  Purchasing  Department  which  will  effect  great  saving 
in  the  purchase  of  supplies. 

12.  It  permits  public  work  to  be  done  by  direct  labor  as  well  as  by 
contract. 

13.  It  safeguards  the  City  in  Franchise  matters. 

14.  It  will  avoid  much  unnecessary  tearing  up  of  streets  for  service 
connections;  and 

15.  It  recognizes  the  people  as  the  sole  source  of  governmental  powers 
and  imposes  upon  each  member  of  the  community  the  duty  and  responsibility 
of  actively  interesting  himself  in  the  affairs  of  his  City. 

This  Charter  may  be  amended  by  a  simple  and  adequate  method  to 
meet  any  changed  conditions  or  future  needs  of  the  City.  Its  adoption  is 
urged  in  the  interest  of  a  "Bigger,  Better,  and  Busier"  Ashtabula. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

THE  CHARTER  COMMISSION. 


CHARTER 

Of  the  City  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio 


Sec.       1. 


CONTENTS  : 

POWERS  OF  THE  CITY. 

Name  and  Powers.  Sec.       2.     Enumerated     Powers      Not 


Exclusive. 


THE  COUNCIL. 


Sec. 

3. 

Powers. 

Sec. 

12. 

Legislative   Procedure. 

Sec. 

4. 

Term  of  Office. 

Sec. 

13. 

Ordinance  Enactment. 

Sec. 

5. 

Qualifications    of   Members. 

Sec. 

14. 

Emergency  Measures. 

Sec. 

6. 

Vacancies. 

Sec. 

15. 

Record  and  Publication. 

Sec. 

7. 

Salary. 

Sec. 

16. 

Times  of  Publication. 

Sec. 

8. 

President. 

Sec. 

17. 

Price   and   Mode   of    Publi- 

Sec. 

9. 

Appointees. 

cation. 

Sec. 

10. 

Time  of  Meeting. 

Sec. 

18. 

Salaries  and  Bonds. 

Sec. 

11. 

-Penalty  for  Absence. 

Sec. 

19. 

General  Disqualifications. 

Sec.  20. 

Sec.  21. 

Sec.  22. 

Sec.  23. 

Sec.  24. 


INITIATIVE  AND  REFERENDUM. 

Sec.     25. 


The  Initiative. 
The   Referendum. 
Ordinances. 

Conflicting  Ordinances. 
Referendum  on  Emergency 
Measures. 


Does 


Sec.     26. 


CITY  MANAGER. 

Sec.     27.     Appointment.  Sec.     30. 

Sec.     28.     Powers  and  Duties.  Sec.     31. 

Sec.     29.     Head  of  Departments.    ' 


When     Referendum 

Not  Apply. 
Referendum  —  Preliminary 

Action. 


Platting  Commissioner. 
Salary. 


ADMINISTRATIVE  OFFICERS   AND  DEPARTMENTS. 

Sec.     32.     City  Solicitor.  Sec.     37.     Other  Boards  and     Depart- 

Sec.     33.     City  Auditor.  ments. 

Sec.     34.     City  Treasurer.  Sec.     38.     Political  Activity. 

Sec.     35.     Purchasing  Agent.  Sec.     39.     Penalties. 

Sec.     36.     Trustees     of     the  Sinking 
Fund. 


CIVIL  SERVICE. 

Sec.     40.     The  Civil  Service  Commis-   Sec.     41.    Appointments 
sion.  movals. 


and       Re- 


E  LECTIONS. 


Sec.     42.     Nomination  of  Candidates.     Sec. 
Sec.     43.     Acceptance.  Sec. 

Sec.     44.     Ballots.  Sec. 

— 3— 


45.  Time  of  Election. 

46.  Election. 

47.  General  Laws  to  Apply. 


298629 


THE  RECALL. 

Sec.     48.     Application.                                 Sec.     55.  Ballots. 

Sec.     49.     Procedure.                                   Sec.     56.  Filling  of  Vacancies. 

Sec.     50.     How  Procured.                           Sec.     57.  Counting  the  Vote. 

Sec.     51.     Signatures,       Requirements    Sec.     58.  Effect  of  Resignations. 

of.                                               Sec.     59.  Miscellaneous    Provisions. 

Sec.     52.     Filing.                                          Sec.     60.  Offenses  Relating    to    Peti- 

Sec.     53.     Notice.  tions. 
Sec.     54     Recall  Election. 

APPROPRIATION  S. 


Sec.     61.     The  Estimate. 

Sec.     62.     Appropriation    Ordinance. 


Sec. 
Sec. 


Sec. 
Sec. 


Sec. 
Sec. 


Sec. 
Sec. 
Sec. 
Sec. 

Sec. 
Sec. 
Sec. 


Sec. 
Sec. 

Sec. 
Sec. 


Sec.     63.     Transfer  of  Funds. 
Sec.     64.     Unencumbered  Balances 


PAYMENTS — REPORTS. 

65.     Payment  of  Claims.  Sec.     67.     Money  in  the  Fund. 


66.     Certification   of   Funds. 


69. 
70. 


Sec.     71. 


72. 
73. 


79. 
80. 
81. 
82. 

83. 
84. 
85. 


93. 
94. 

95. 
96. 


Sec.     68.     Financial  Reports. 


IMPROVEMENTS — CONTRACTS. 

Limitation  of  Assessments.    Sec.  74.     Expenditures 
Improvements      by      Direct 

Labor.  Sec.  75. 

Sewer,      Water     and     Gas   Sec.  76. 

Connections.  Sec.  77. 

Street  Sprinkling.  Sec.  78. 

Assessment  for  Removal  of 

Snow,  Weeds,  etc. 


in  Excess   of 
$1000. 

Time  of  Making  Contracts. 
Modification  of  Contracts. 
Bids  in  Excess  of  Estimate. 
Contracts — When  Void. 


FRANCHISES. 

Grants  Limited.  Sec.  86. 

Period  of  Grants.  Sec.  87. 

Strict  Construction.  Sec.  88. 

Free  Carriage  of  Policemen  Sec.  89. 

and  Firemen.  Sec.  90. 

Assignment.  Sec.  91. 

Right  of  Purchase.  Sec.  92. 
Extension   by  Annexation. 


Consents. 

Right  of  Regulation. 

Forfeitures. 

Paving  and  Sprinkling. 

Accounts  and  Reports. 

Grants  Not  Included. 

General  Provision. 


MISCELLANEOUS  PROVISIONS. 

General  Laws  to  Apply.  Sec.  97. 
Ordinances  Continued  in  Sec.  98. 

Force.  Sec.  99. 

Continuance  of  PresentSec.  100. 

Officers.  Sec.  101. 

Continuance  of  Contracts  Sec.  102. 

and  Vested  Rights. 


Investigation. 

Oath  of  Office. 

Hours  of  Labor. 

Amendment  of  Charter. 

Saving  Clause. 

When  Charter  Takes  Effect. 


-4 — 


CHARTER 

Of  the  City  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio 

We,  the  people  of  the  City  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio  in  order  to  obtain  the 
benefits  of  local  self-government,  to  encourage  more  direct  and  business- 
like methods  in  the  transaction  of  our  municipal  affairs,  and  otherwise  to 
promote  our  common  welfare,  do  adopt  the  following  Charter  of  our  City: 

CORPORATE  POWERS,  RIGHTS  AND  PRIVILEGES. 
Name  and  Powers. 

Section  1.  The  inhabitants  of  the  City  of  Ashtabula,  as  its  limits  now 
are,  or  may  hereafter  be,  shall  be  a  body  politic  and  corporate  by  name, 
Tnc  City  of  Ashtabula,  ana  as  such  shall  have  perpetual  succession;  may 
use  a  corporate  seal;  may  sue  and  be  sued;  may  acquire  property  in  fee 
simple  or  lesser  interest  or  estate  by  purchase,  sift  devise,  appropriation, 
lease,  or  lease  with  the  privilege  to  purchase  for  any  municipal  purpose; 
may  sell,  lease,  hold,  manage,  and  control  such  property,  and  make  any 
and  all  rules  and  regulations  by  ordinance  or  resolution  which  may  be  re- 
quired to  carry  out  fully  all  the  provisions  of  any  conveyance,  deed,  or  will, 
in  relation  to  any  gift  or  bequest,  or  the  provisions  of  any  lease  by  which 
it  may  acquire  property;  may  acquire,  construct,  own,  lease  and  operate 
and  regulate  public  utilities;  may  assess,  levy  and  collect  taxes  for  general 
and  special  purposes  on  all  the  subjects  or  objects  which  the  city  may  law- 
fully tax;  may  borrow  money  on  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  city  by  the  issue 
or  sale  of  bonds  or  notes  of  the  city;  may  appropriate  the  money  of  the  city 
for  all  lawful  purposes;  may  create,  provide  for.  construct,  regulate  and 
maintain  all  things  of  the  nature  of  public  works  and  improvements;  may 
levy  and  collect  assessments  for  local  improvements;  may  license  and 
regulate  persons,  corporations  and  associations  engaged  in  any  business, 
occupation,  profession  or  trade;  may  define,  prohibit,  abate,  suppress  and 
prevent  all  things  detrimental  to  the  health,  morals,  comfort,  safety,  con- 
venience and  welfare  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  and  all  nuisances  and 
causes  thereof;  may  regulate  the  construction,  height,  and  the  material 
used  in  all  buildings,  and  the  maintenance  and  occupancy  thereof;  may 
regulate  the  construction,  location,  size,  height,  ivnd  the  materials  used  in 
all  bill-boards,  and  the  maintenance  and  use  of  the  same;  may  regulate  and 
control  the  use,  for  whatever  purposes,  of  the  streets  and  other  public 
places;  may  create,  establish,  organize  and  abolish  offices  and  fix  the  sal- 
aries and  compensations  of  all  officers  and  employees;  may  make  and 
enforce  local  police,  sanitary  and  other  regulations;  and  may  pass  such 
ordinances  as  may  be  expedient  for  maintaining  and  promoting  the  peace, 
good  government  and  welfare  of  the  city,  and  for  the  performance  of  the 
functions  thereof.  The  city  shall  have  all  powers  that  now  are,  or  hereafter 
may  be  granted  to  municipalities  by  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  Ohio;  and 
all  such  powers,  whether  expressed  or  implied,  shall  be  exercised  and  en- 
forced in  the  manner  prescribed  by  this  Charter,  or  when  not  prescribed 
herein,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  provided  by  ordinances  or  resolutions  of 
the  Council. 

— 5 — 


Enumerated  Powers  Not  Exclusive. 

Section  2.  The  enumeration  of  particular  powers  by  this  Charter  shall 
not  be  held  or  deemed  to  be  exclusive,  but,  in  addition  to  the  powers 
enumerated  herein,  implied  thereby  or  appropriate  to  the  exercise  thereof, 
the  city  shall  have,  and  may  exercise,  all  other  powers  which,  under  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  Ohio,  it  would  be  competent  for  this  Charter 
specifically  to  enumerate. 

THE  COUNCTL. 
Powers. 

Section  3.  All  powers  of  the  city,  except  such  as  are  vested  in  the 
Board  of  Education  and  in  the  Police  Court,  and  except  as  otherwise  pro- 
vided by  this  Charter  or  by  the  Constitution  of  the  State,  are  hereby  vested 
in  a  Council  to  consist  of  seven  members  elected  at  large;  and,  except  as 
otherwise  prescribed  by  this  Charter  or  by  the  Constitution  of  the  State, 
the  Council  may  by  ordinance  or  resolution  prescribe  the  manner  in  which 
any  power  of  the  city  shall  be  exercised.  In  the  absence  of  such  provision 
as  to  any  power,  such  power  shall  be  exercised  in  the  manner  now  or  here- 
after prescribed  by  the  general  laws  of  the  State  applicable  to  munici- 
palities. 

Term  of  Office. 

Section  4.  Members  of  Council  shall  hold  office  for  a  term  of  four 
years,  beginning  January  first  after  their  election,  excepting  that  the  three 
members  elected  at  the  first  election  by  the  lowest  vote  shall  hold  office 
for  the  term  of  two  years  only. 

Qualifications  of  Members. 

Section  5.  Each  member  of  the  Council  for  at  least  five  years  imme- 
diately prior  to  his  election  shall  have  been,  and  during  his  term  of  office 
shall  continue  to  be,  a  resident  of  the  City  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  and  shall 
have  the  qualifications  of  an  elector  therein.  He  shall  not  hold  any  other 
public  office  or  employment  except  that  of  Notary  Public  or  member  of 
the  State  Militia. 

The  Council  shall  be  judge  of  the  election  and  qualification  of  its 
members.  It  may  punish  or  expel  any  member  for  disorderly  conduct  or 
violation  of  its  rules.  Expulsion  shall  not  take  place  without  the  concur- 
rence of  five  members,  nor  until  the  delinquent  member  shall  have  been 
notified  of  the  charge  against  him  and  given  an  opportunity  to  be  heard. 

Vacancies. 

Section  6.  Any  vacancy  in  the  Council,  except  as  otherwise  provided 
in  this  Charter,  shall  be  filled  for  the  unexpired  term  by  appointment  by 
the  remaining  members  by  the  vote  of  at  least  four.  If  the  term  of  the 
office  so  filled  does  not  expire  for  two  years  or  more  after  the  next  regular 
municipal  election  following  such  vacancy,  and  such  vacancy  occurs  in 
time  to  permit  it,  an  additional  member  of  Council  shall  be  elected  at  such 
election;  and,  of  those  members  of  Council  elected  at  such  election  the  one 
having  the  lowest  vote  shall  succeed  such  appointee  on  January  first  after 


his  election  and  serve  the  unexpired  term.     In  the  event  of  more  than  one 
vacancy  to  be  so  filled  by  election,  the  same  provisions  shall  apply. 

Salary. 

Section  7.  Each  member  of  the  Council,  except  the  President,  shall 
receive  a  salary  of  one  hundred  dollars  a  year,  and  the  President  of 
Council  shall  receive  a  salary  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  year, 
payable  in  equal  monthly  installments. 

President. 

Section  8.  The  Council  shall  at  the  time  of  organizing  elect  one  of  its 
members  as  President  and  another  as  Vice-President  for  terms  of  two  years. 
In  case  the  members  of  the  Council  within  five  days  after  the  time  herein 
fixed  for  their  organization  meeting,  are  unable  to  agree  upon  a  President 
or  a  Vice-President  of  such  Council  then  a  President,  or  a  Vice-President, 
or  both,  as  the  occasion  may  require,  shall  be  selected  from  the  two  members 
receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes  therefor,  by  lot  conducted  by  the 
City  Solicitor,  who  shall  certify  the  result  of  such  lot  upon  the  journal  of 
the  Council. 

The  President  shall  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the  Council  and  perform 
such  other  duties  consistent  with  his  office  as  may  be  imposed  by  it;  and  he 
shall  have  a  voice  and  vote  in  its  proceedings,  but  no  veto.  He  may  use  the 
title  of  Mayor  in  the  execution  of  legal  instruments  or  where  the  general 
laws  of  the  State  so  require;  but  this  shall  not  be  construed  as  conferring 
upon  him  the  administrative  or  judicial  functions  of  a  Mayor  under  the 
general  laws  of  the  State,  except  that  if  the  Police  Court  of  the  city  be 
abolished  without  the  establishment  of  another  Court  therein  with  like  or 
similar  criminal  jurisdiction,  and  until  such  Court  is  established,  the 
President  of  the  Council  as  ex-officio  Mayor  shall  exercise  all  the  judicial 
functions  of  a  Mayor  under  the  general  laws  of  the  State,  and  shall  receive 
for  such  services  an  additional  compensation  of  $600  per  annum,  payable 
monthly. 

The  President  of  the  Council  shall  be  recognized  as  the  official  head  of 
the  city  by  the  Courts  for  the  purpose  of  serving  civil  process,  by  the  Gov- 
ernor for  the  purposes  of  military  law,  and  for  all  ceremonial  purposes.  He 
may  take  command  of  the  police  and  govern  the  city  by  proclamation  dur- 
ing times  of  public  danger  or  emergency,  and  the  Council  shall  be  the  judge 
of  what  constitutes  such  public  danger  or  emergency.  The  powers  and 
duties  of  the  President  shall  be  such  as  are  conferred  upon  him  by  this, 
Charter,  together  with  such  others  as  are  conferred  by  the  Council  in  pur- 
suance of  the  provisions  of  this  Charter,  and  no  others. 

If  the  President  be  temporarily  absent  from  the  city,  or  becomes 
temporarily  disabled  from  any  cause,  his  duties  shall  be  performed  during 
such  absence  or  disability  by  the  Vice-President.  In  the  absence  of  both 
President  and  Vice-President  the  other  members  of  the  Council  shall  select 
one  of  their  number  to  perform  the  duties  of  President. 

Appointees. 

Section  9.  The  Council  shall  appoint  a  City  Manager,  a  City  Solicitor, 
a  City  Treasurer,  a  Health  Officer,  and  a  City  Auditor.  The  City  Auditor 


shall  be  ex-officio  Clerk  of  the  Council,  and  shall  keep  its  records  and  per- 
form all  other  duties  required  by  this  Charter  or  by  the  Council.  Council 
may  also  appoint  and  employ  such  other  officers  and  employees  of  its  body 
as  it  deems  necessary.  Council  shall  also  designate  some  officer  of  the  city, 
other  than  the  City  Auditor  or  City  Treasurer,  to  act  as  its  Purchasing 
Agent.  All  appointees  of  the  Council  shall  hold  office  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  Council. 

Time  of  Meeting. 

Section  10.  At  seven-thirty  o'clock  P.  M.  on  the  second  day  of  January 
following  a  regular  municipal  election,  or  if  such  day  be  Sunday,  on  the  day 
following,  the  Council  shall  meet  at  the  usual  place  for  holding  the  meetings 
of  the  legislative  body  of  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  organization.  There- 
after the  Council  shall  meet  at  such  times  as  may  be  prescribed  by  ordinance 
or  resolution,  except  that  it  shall  meet  regularly  not  less  than  once  each 
week.  The  President,  any  two  members  of  the  Council,  or  the  City  Manager, 
may  call  special  meetings  of  the  Council,  upon  at  least  twelve  hours'  written 
notice  to  each  member,  served  personally  or  left  at  his  usual  place  of  resi- 
dence. All  meetings  of  the  Council  shall  be  public  and  any  citizen  shall  have 
access  to  the  minutes  and  records  thereof  at  all  reasonable  times.  The 
Council  shall  determine  its  own  rules  and  order  of  business  and  shall  keep 
a  journal  of  its  proceedings. 

Penalty  for  Absence. 

Section  11.  For  each  absence  of  a  member  of  Council  from  a  regular 
meeting  of  the  Council,  there  shall  be  deducted  a  sum  equal  to  two  per  cent, 
of  the  annual  salary  of  such  member.  Absence  from  five  consecutive  regular 
meetings  shall  operate  to  vacate  the  seat  of  a  member  unless  the  absence  is 
excused  by  the  Council  by  resolution  setting  forth  such  excuse  and  entered 
upon  the  journal. 

Legislative  Procedure. 

Section  12.  The  legislative  action  of  Council  shall  be  by  ordinance  or 
resolution,  provided  that  this  shall  not  apply  to  action  accepting  a  bid  for 
work  and  directing  the  appropriate  officer  to  enter  into  a  contract,  to  action 
ordering  the  dismissal  of  an  officer,  to  action  ordering  an  election,  or  to 
action  directing  an  officer  or  board  to  furnish  the  Council  with  information 
as  to  the  affairs  of  any  office,  department  or  board. 

A  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to  the  Council  shall  be  a  quorum, 
but  a  less  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day  and  compel  the  attendance 
of  absent  members  in  such  manner  and  under  such  penalties  as  may  be  pre- 
scribed by  ordinance.  The  affirmative  vote  of  at  least  four  members  shall 
be  necessary  to  adopt  any  ordinance  or  resolution;  and  the  vote  upon  the 
passage  of  all  ordinances  and  resolutions  shall  be  taken  by  "yeas"  and  "nays" 
and  entered  upon  the  journal. 

Ordinance  Enactment. 

Section  13.  Each  proposed  ordinance  or  resolution  shall  be  introduced 
in  written  or  printed  form,  and  shall  not  contain  more  than  one  subject, 
which  shall  be  clearly  stated  in  the  title;  but  general  appropriation  ordi- 


nances  may  contain  the  various  subjects  and  accounts  for  which  moneys  are 
to  be  appropriated.  The  enacting  clause  of  all  ordinances  passed  by  the 
Council  shall  be,  "Be  it  ordained  by  the  Council  of  the  City  of  Ashtabula, 
Ohio."  The  enacting  clause  of  all  ordinances  submitted  to  popular  election 
by  the  initiative  shall  be:  "Be  it  ordained  by  the  people  of  the  City  of  Ashta- 
bula, Ohio." 

No  ordinance,  unless  it  be  an  emergency  measure,  shall  be  passed  until 
it  has  been  read  at  two  regular  meetings  not  less  than  one  week  apart,  or  the 
requirement  of  such  reading  has  been  dispensed  with  by  the  vote  of  at  least 
five  members  of  the  Council.  No  ordinance  or  resolution  or  section  thereof 
shall  be  revised  or  amended,  unless  the  new  ordinance  or  resolution  contain 
the  entire  ordinance  or  resolution  or  section  revised  or  amended;  and  the 
original  ordinance,  resolution,  section  or  sections  so  amended  shall  be 
repealed. 

No  resolution  declaring  it  necessary  to  proceed  with  any  public  im- 
provement shall  be  adopted  until  complete  plans,  specifications,  profiles  and 
estimates  have  been  submitted  to  the  Council  and  approved  by  it;  and  the 
same,  or  a  copy  thereof,  shall  thereafter  remain  on  file  in  the  office  of  the 
City  Engineer,  subject  to  inspection  by  the  public. 

Emergency  Measures. 

Section  14.  All  ordinances  and  resolutions  passed  by  the  Council  shall 
be  in  effect  on  and  after  the  thirtieth  day  from  the  date  of  their  passage 
except  that  the  Council  may,  by  the  vote  of  five  members,  pass  emergency 
measures  to  take  effect  at  the  time  indicated  therein. 

An  emergency  measure  is  an  ordinance  or  resolution  providing  for  the 
immediate  preservation  of  the  public  peace,  property,  health  or  safety,  or 
for  the  usual  daily  operation  of  a  municipal  department,  in  which  the 
emergency  is  set  forth  and  defined  in  a  preamble  thereto.  Ordinances  ap- 
propriating money  may  be  passed  as  emergency  measures,  but  no  measure 
making  a  grant,  renewal  or  extension  of  a  franchise  or  other  special 
privilege,  or  regulating  the  rate  to  be  charged  for  its  service  by  any  public 
utility,  shall  ever  be  so  passed. 

Record  and  Publication. 

Section  15.  Every  ordinance  or  resolution  upo.n  its  final  passage  shall 
be  recorded  in  a  book  kept  for  that  purpose,  and  shall  be  authenticated  by 
the  signatures  of  the  presiding  officer  and  the  Clerk  of  the  Council.  Every 
ordinance  or  resolution  of  a  general  or  permanent  nature  shall  be  published 
once  within  ten  days  after  its  final  passage  in  the  manner  hereinafter  pro- 
vided; except  that  whenever  the  passage  of  more  than  one  ordinance  or 
resolution  is  required  by  law  to  complete  the  legislation  necessary  to  make 
and  pay  for  any  public  improvement,  the  provisions  of  this  section  shall 
apply  only  to  the  first  ordinance  or  resolution  required  to  be  passed,  and  not 
to  any  subsequent  ordinance  or  resolution  relating  thereto,  provided  that  be- 
fore issuing  bonds  to  pay  for  any  public  improvement  Council  may  publish 
a  notice  headed,  "Notice  of  Bond  Issue  for  Public  Improvement,"  describing 
said  improvement  in  general  terms  and  setting  forth  within  what  time  assess- 
ments on  property  specially  benefited  may  he  paid  in  cash,  and  for  what 
period  of  time  and  at  what  rate  of  interest  bonds  will  be  issued  for  that  por- 
tion of  the  assessment  not  so  paid. 


Times  of  Publication. 

Section  16.  Advertisements  for  bids  for  work  and  notices  of  the  sale 
or  lease  of  real  estate  or  sale  of  personal  property  shall  be  published  once  a 
week  for  not  less  than  two  nor  more  than  four  consecutive  weeks;  proclama- 
tions of  elections,  such  number  of  times  as  provided  by  law;  and  all  other 
matters,  once. 

Price  and  Mode  of  Publication. 

Section  17.  All  the  above  mentioned  publications,  as  well  as  all  other 
newspaper  publications  made  by  the  city,  except  as  hereinafter  provided, 
shall  be  published  in  one  newspaper  of  general  circulation  in  the  city,  printed 
in  the  English  language,  to  be  designated  by  the  Council.  Before  designating 
'the  newspaper  to  carry  such  publications  the  Council  shall  request  all  such 
newspapers  to  submit  sealed  bids  for  such  publishing  together  with  their 
published  rate  card  for  commercial  advertising,  and  a  sworn  statement  of 
their  bona  fide  net  paid  circulation  within  the  City  of  Ashtabula,  and  in 
making  such  designation  the  Council  shall  take  into  consideration  both  the 
rate  and  circulation  of  the  newspaper,  and  the  City  shall  thereupon  enter 
into  a  contract  with  the  newspaper  so  designated  for  such  period  of  time, 
not  exceeding  three  years,  as  Council  shall  determine. 

All  such  publications  shall  be  set  solid  in  the  regular  reading  type  of 
the  newspaper  so  designated,  but  not  larger  than  eight-point  type  and  nine- 
point  body,  with  an  eighteen-point  headline  specifying  the  nature  of  the 
publication;  provided  that  by  order  of  Council  special  notices  or  advertising 
may  be  set  in  larger  type  than  above  specified,  and  notices  of  the  sale  of 
bonds  may  be  published  in  not  to  exceed  two  newspapers  published  outside 
of  the  city.  The  newspaper  carrying  any  or  all  of  such  publications  shall  be 
paid  for  the  quantity  of  space  used  at  a  rate  no  higher  than  it  charges  for 
the  same  space  for  commercial  display  advertising.  Whenever  it  may  appear 
to  the  Council  that  the  rates  offered  by  such  newspapers  are  unfair,  such 
other  means  of  securing  due  publicity  may  be  employed,  in  lieu  of  news- 
paper advertising,  as  the  Council  may  by  resolution  determine. 

Salaries  and  Bonds. 

Section  18.  The  Council  shall  fix  by  ordinance  the  salary  or  rate  of 
compensation  of  all  officers  and  employees  of  the  city  entitled  to  compensa- 
tion, except  as  otherwise  provided  in  this  Charter;  but  this  shall  not  prevent 
the  city  from  securing  the  services  of  special  or  temporary  employees  who 
shall  receive  such  compensation  as  may  be  agreed  upon,  and  approved  by 
Council.  Council  may  require  any  officer  or  employee  to  give  a  bond  for  the 
faithful  performance  of  his  duty,  in  such  an  amount  as  it  may  determine, 
and  it  may  provide  that  the  permium  thereof  shall  be  paid  by  the  city. 

General  Disqualifications. 

Section  19.  No  member  of  the  Council,  the  City  Manager  or  any  other 
officer  or  employee  of  the  city,  shall  be  directly  or  indirectly  interested  in 
any  contract,  job,  work  or  service  with  or  for  the  city;  nor  in  the  profits 
or  emoluments  thereof,  nor  in  the  expenditure  of  any  money  on  the  part 
of  .the  city,  other  than  his  fixed  compensation;  and  any  contract  with  the 

—10— 


City  in  which  any  such  officer  or  employee  is,  or  becomes,  interested  may 
be  declared  void  by  the  Council. 

No  member  of  the  Council,  the  City  Manager  or  other  officer  or  em- 
ployee of  the  city  shall  knowingly  accept  any  gift,  frank,  free  ticket,  pass, 
reduced  price  or  reduced  rate  of  service  from  any  person,  firm  or  corporation 
operating  a  ptiblic  utility  or  engaged  in  business  of  a  public  nature  within  the 
city,  or  from  any  person  known  to  him  to  have  or  to  be  endeavoring  to  secure, 
a  contract  with  the  city;  but  the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  not  apply  to 
the  transportation  of  policemen  or  firemen  in  uniform  or  wearing  their 
official  badges,  when  the  same  is  provided  for  by  ordinance. 

INITIATIVE  AND  REFERENDUM. 

The  Initiative. 

Section  20.  Any  proposed  ordinance  may  be  submitted  to  the  Council 
by  petition  signed  by  electors  of  the  city  equal  in  number  to  ten  (10) 
per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  registered  electors  therein.  All  petition 
papers,  circulated  with  respect  to  any  proposed  ordinance,  shall  be  uniform 
in  character,  and  shall  contain  the  proposed  ordinance  in  full,  and  the 
names  and  addresses  of  at  least  five  electors  who  shall  be  officially 
regarded  as  filing  the  petition  and  shall  constitute  a  committee  of  the 
petitioners  for  the  purpose  hereinafter  name*. 

Each  signer  of  a  petition  shall  sign  his  name  in  ink  or  indelible  pencil, 
and  shall  place  on  the  petition  paper  after  his  name  his  place  of  residence 
by  street  and  number,  and  the  date  of  signing.  The  signatures  to  any  such 
petition  need  not  all  be  appended  to  one  paper  but  to  each  such  paper  there 
shall  be  attached  an  affidavit  by  the  circulator  thereof  stating  the  number 
of  signers  to  such  part  of  the  petition  and  that  each  signature  appended  to 
the  paper  is  the  genuine  signature  of  the  person  whose  name  it  purports  to 
be,  and  was  made  in  the  presence  of  the  affiant  and  on  the  date  indicated. 
No  person  shall  sign  more  than  one  petition  paper  for  the  same  purpose. 

Before  any  ordinance  so  proposed  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Council,  its 
form  shall  be  approved  by  the  City  Solicitor,  who  shall  endorse  his  approval 
thereon;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  City  Solicitor  to  draft  any  such  pro- 
posed ordinance  in  proper  legal  language  and  to  render  such  other  services 
to  persons  desiring  to  propose  such  ordinance  as  shall  be  necessary  to  make 
the  same  proper  for  consideration  by  the  Council. 

All  papers  comprising  a  petition  shall  be  assembled  and  filed  with  the 
Clerk  of  the  Council  as  one  instrument  within  one  hundred  twenty  days 
from  the  date  of  the  first  signature  theron.  Within  ten  days  from  the  filing 
of  such  petition  the  Clerk  shall  endorse  thereon  a  certificate  showing  the 
number  of  signatures  of  qualified  electors  contained  therein  and  the  number 
required. 

If  the  Clerk's  certificate  shows  that  the  petition  is  insufficient  he  shall 
fat  once  notify  each  member  of  the  committee  of  the  petitioners,  herein- 
before provided  for,  and  the  petition  may  be  supplemented  at  any  time 
within  fifteen  days  from  the  date  of  such  notification  by  filing  with  the 
Clerk  an  additional  petition  paper  or  papers  in  the  same  manner  as  pro- 
vided for  the  original  petition. 

Upon  the  filing  of  such  supplemental  petition  the  Clerk  shall,  within 
ten  days  thereafter,  attach  thereto  his  certificate  as  hereinbefore  required. 

—11— 


If  the  petition  as  so  supplemented  is  still  insufficient,  or  if  no  supplement 
shall  have  been  filed,  the  Clerk  shall  file  the  petition  in  his  office  and  shall 
notify  each  member  of  the  committee  of  that  fact.  The  final  finding  of  the 
insufficiency  of  a  petition  shall  not  prejudice  the  filing  of  a  new  petition 
for  the  same  purpose. 

When  the  certificate  of  the  the  Clerk  shows  the  petition  to  be  sufficient, 
he  shall  submit  the  proposed  ordinance  to  the  Council  at  its  next  regular 
meeting  and"  the  Council  shall  take  final  action  thereon  within  thirty  days 
from  the  date  of  such  submission.  If  the  Council  reject  the  proposed  ordin- 
ance, or  pass  it  in  a  form  different  from  that  set  'forth  in  the  petition,  the 
committee  of  the  petitioners  may  require  that  it  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of1 
the  electors  in  its  original  form,  or  that  it  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the 
electors  with  any  proposed  change,  addition  or  amendment,  which  was  pre- 
sented to  Council  in  writing  by  said  committee  during  the  consideration 
thereof  by  the  Council. 

When  an  ordinance  proposed  by  petition  is  to  be  submitted  to  a  vote 
of  the  electors  the  committee  of  the  petitioners  shall  certify  that  fact  and 
the  proposed  ordinance  to  the  Clerk  of  the  Council  within  forty  (40)  days 
after  .the  submission  of  such  proposed  ordinance  to  the  Council. 

Upon  receipt  of  the  certificate  and  certified  copy  of  the  proposed  ordin- 
ance, the  Clerk  shall  certify  that  fact  to  the  Council  at  its  next  regular 
meeting.  If  no  election  is  t^be  held  within  six  months  and  more  than  thirty 
days  after  the  receipt  of  the  Clerk's  certificate  by  the  Council,  the  Council 
may  provide  for  submitting  the  proposed  ordinance  to  the  electors  at  a 
special  election.  If  a  supplemental  petition,  signed  by  electors  equal  in 
number  to  twenty-five  (25)  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  registered 
electors  in  the  municipality  other  than  and  in  addition  to  those  who  signed 
the  original  petition,  be  filed  with  the  Clerk  asking  that  the  proposed 
ordinance  be  submitted  to  the  voters  at  a  time  indicated  in  such  petition, 
the  Council  shall  provide  for  a  special  election  at  such  time.  The  sufficiency 
of  any  such  petition  shall  be  determined,  and  it  may  be  supplemented,  in 
the  manner  hereinbefore  provided  for  original  petitions  for  proposing 
ordinances  to  the  Council.  If  no  other  provision  be  made  as  to  the  time  of 
submitting  a  proposed  ordinance  to  a  vote  of  the  electors,  it  shall  be  sub- 
mitted at  the  next  election. 

The  ballots  used  when  voting  upon  any  such  proposed  ordinance  shall 
state  the  title  of  the  ordinance  to  be  voted  on  and  below  it  the  two  propo- 
sitions, "For  the  Ordinance"  and  "Against  the  Ordinance."  Immediately 
at  the  left  of  each  proposition  there  shall  be  a  square  in  which  by  making 
a  cross  (X)  the  voter  may  vote  for  or  against  the  proposed  ordinance  If  a 
majority  of  the  qualified  electors  voting  on  any  such  proposed  ordinance 
shall  vote  in  favor  thereof,  it  shall  thereupon  become  an  ordinance  of  the 
city. 

No  ordinance  adopted  by  an  electoral  vote  shall  be  rapealed  or 
amended  except  by  an  electoral  vote,  but  an  ordinance  to  repeal  or  amend 
any  such  ordinance  may,  by  resolution  of  the  Council,  be  submitted  to  an 
electoral  vote  on  the  day  of  any  regular  or  special  election  or  at  a  special 
municipal  election  called  for  that  purpose,  provided  notice  of  the  intention 
so  to  do  be  published  by  Council  not  more  than  sixty  nor  less  than  thirty 
days  prior  to  such  election  in  the  manner  required  for  the  publication  of 
ordinances.  If  an  amendment  is  so  proposed,  such  notice  shall  contain 

— 12 — 


the  proposed  amendment  in  full.  Such  submission  shall  be  in  the  same 
manner,  and  the  vote  shall  have  the  same  effect,  as  in  cases  of  ordinances 
submitted  to  an  election  by  popular  petition. 

Proposed  ordinances  for  repealing  any  existing  ordinance  or  ordinances 
in  whole  or  in  part,  or  amending  the  same,  may  be  submitted  to  the  Council 
'as  provided  in  the  preceding  sections  for  initiating  ordinances. 

The  Refer  end  11 111. 

Section  21.  No  ordinance  passed  by  the  Council,  unless  it  be  an 
emergency  measure,  shall  go  into  effect  until  the  thirtieth  day  after  its 
final  passage.  If,  at  any  time,  within  sa-id  period  a  petition  signed  by 
qualified  electors  of  the  city  equal  in  number  to  ten  (10)  per  cent,  of  the 
total  number  of  registered  electors  therein,  be  filed  with  the  Clerk  of  the 
Council  requesting  that  any  such  ordinance  be  repealed  or  submittd  to  a 
vote  of  the  electors,  it  shall  not  become  operative  until  the  steps  indicated 
herein  have  been  taken. 

When  such  a  petition  is  filed  with  the  Clerk  of  the  Council  he  shall 
determine  the  sufficiency  thereof  in  the  manner  provided  in  Section  20  of 
this  Charter.  If  the  petition  be  found  sufficient,  or  be  rendered  sufficient 
by  a  supplemental  petition  which  may  be  filed  as  provided  in  said  Section 
20,  the  Clerk  shrill  certify  that  fact  to  the  Council,  which  shall  proceed  to 
reconsider  the  ordinance.  If,  upon  such  reconsideration,  the  ordinance  be 
not  entirely  repealed,  Council  shall  provide  for  submitting  it  to  a  vote  of 
the  electors,  and  in  so  doing  the  Council  shall  be  governed  by  the  provisions 
of  said  Section  20  respecting  the  time  of  submission  and  manner  of  voting 
on  ordinances  proposed  to  the  Council  by  petition.  If  when  submitted  to  a 
vote  of  the  electors  any  such  ordinance  be  not  approved  by  a  majority  of 
those  voting  thereon,  it  shall  be  deemed  repealed. 

Referendum  petitions  need  contain  only  the  title,  number  >and  date  of 
passage  of  the  ordinances,  the  repeal  of  which  is  sought;  but  they  shall  be 
subject  in  all  other  respects  to  the  requirements  for  petitions  submitting 
proposed  ordinances  to  the  Council.  Ballots  used  in  referendum  elections 
shall  conform  in  all  respects  to  those_  provided  for  in  said  Section  20  of 
this  Charter. 

Ordinances. 

Section  22.  Ordinances  submitted  to  the  Council  by  initiative  petition 
and  passed  by  the  Council  without  change,  or  passed  in  an  amended  form 
and  not  required  to  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  electors  by  the  com- 
mittee of  the  petitioners,  shall  be  subject  to  the  referendum  in  the  same 
manner  as  other  ordinances. 

Conflicting;  Ordinances. 

Section  23.  If  the  provisions  of  two  or  more  ordinances  adopted  or 
approved  at  the  same  election  conflict,  the  conflicting  provisions  of  the 
ordinance  receiving  the  highest  affirmative  vote  shall  prevail. 

Referendum  On  Emergency  Measures. 

Section  24.  Ordinances  passed  as  emergency  measures  shall  be 
subject  to  referendum  in  like  manner  as  other  ordinances,  except  that  they 

—13— 


shall  go  into  effect  at  the  time  indicated  in  such  ordinances.  If,  when 
submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  electors,  an  emergency  measure  be  not  approved 
by  a  majority  of  those  voting  thereon,  it  shall  be  considered  repealed 
as  regards  any  further  action  thereunder;  but  such  measure  so  repealed 
shall  be  deemed  sufficient  authority  for  payments  made  or  expense  incurred 
in  accordance  therewith  previous  to  the  referendum  vote  thereon. 

When  Referendum  Does  Not  Apply. 

Section  25.  The  following  ordinances  or  measures  shall  not  be  sub- 
ject to  the  referendum,  but  shall  go  into  effect  at  the  time  indicated  therein: 

(a)  The  annual  appropriation  ordinance. 

(b)  In  all  cases   where  Council  is  required  to  pass  more  than  one 
ordinance  or  other  measure  to  complete  the  legislation  necessary  to  make 
and  pay  for  any  public  improvement,  the  referendum  shall  apply  only  to 
the  first  ordinance  or  measure  required  to  be  passed  and  not  to  any  sub- 
sequent ordinances  or  measures  relating  thereto,  and  said  first  ordinance 
or  measure  shall  clearly  state  the  purpose  and  general  scope  of  the  im- 
provement. 

(c)  Ordinances    or    resolutions    providing    for    the    approval    or   dis- 
approval of  appointments  or  removals  by  the  City  Manager,  and  appoint- 
ments or  removals  made  by  the  Council. 

(d)  Actions  by  the  Council  on  the  approval  of  official  bonds. 

(e)  Ordinances  or  resolutions  providing  for  the  submission  of  any 
proposition  to  a  vote  of  the  electors. 

Referendum — Preliminary  Action. 

Section  26.  In  case  a  petition  be  filed  requiring  that  a  measure 
passed  by  the  Council,  providing  for  an  expenditure  of  money,  a  bond  issue, 
or  a  public  improvement  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  electors,  all  the 
steps  preliminary  to  such  actual  expenditure,  actual  issuance  of  bonds,  or 
actual  execution  of  a  contract  for  such  improvement,  may  be  taken  prior 
to  the  election. 

CITY    MANAGER. 

Appointment. 

Section  27.  The  Council  shall  appoint  a  City  Manager  who  shall  be 
the  administrative  head  of  the  municipal  government  under  the  direction 
and  supervision  of  the  Council,  and  who  shall  hold  office  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  Council.  He  shall  be  appointed  without  regard  to  his  political  beliefs 
and  need  not  be  a  resident  of  the  city  at  the  time  of  his  appointment.  During 
the  absence  or  disability  of  the  City  Manager  the  Council  may  designate 
some  properly  qualified  person  to  execute  the  functions  of  the  office. 

Powers  and  Duties. 

Section  28.     The  powers  and  duties  of  the  City  Manager  shall  be: 

(a)  To  see  that  the  laws  and  ordinances  be  enforced. 

(b)  Except  as  herein  provided,  to  appoint  and  remove  all  heads  of 
departments,   and  all  subordinate  officers  and  employees  of  the  City;    all 
appointments  to  be  upon  merit  and  fitness  alone. 

— 14 — 


(c)  To  exercise  control  over  all   departments  and   divisions  created 
herein  or  that  hereafter  may  be  created  by  the  Council. 

(d)  To   see  that  all   terms  and   conditions  imposed  in  favor  of  the 
City  or  its  inhabitants  in  any  public  utility  franchise  be  faithfully  kept  and 
performed;   and  upon  knowledge  of  any  violation  thereof  to  call  the  same 
to  the  attention  of  the  City  Solicitor,  who  is  hereby  required  to  take  such 
steps  as  are  necessary  to  enforce  the  same. 

(e)  To  attend  all  meetings  of  the  Council,  with  the  right  to  take  part 
in  the  discussions  but  having  no  vote. 

(f)  To   recommend   to   the   Council   for   adoption   such   measures   as 
he  may  deem  necessary  or  expedient. 

(g)  To   act  as  budget  commissioner  and  to  keep  the  Council   fully 
advised  as  to  the  financial  condition  and  needs  of  the  City;  and 

(h)  To  perform  such  other  duties  as  may  be  prescribed  by  this  Charter 
or  be  required  of  him  by  ordinance  or  resolution  of  the  Council. 

Heads  of  Departments. 

Section  29.  Excepting'the  departments  of  City  Solicitor,  City  Auditor, 
City  Treasurer,  Health  Officer,  and  Sinking  Fund,  the  City  Manager  shall 
be  the  acting  head  of  each  and  every  department  of  the  City  until  otherwise 
provided  by  the  Council;  but  with  the  consent  and  approval  of  the  Council, 
he  may  appoint  a  Deputy  or  Chief  Clerk  to  represent  him  in  any  department 
of  which  he  is  the  acting  head.  No  member  of  the  Council  shall  interfere 
with  the  conduct  of  any  department,  except  at  the  express  direction  of 
Council. 

Platting  Commissioner. 

Section  30.  The  City  Manager  shall  be  the  Platting  Commissioner 
of  the  City  and  shall  exercise  the  authority  and  discharge  the  duties  of  that 
office  under  the  provisions  of  the  general  law  of  the  State  applicable 
thereto,  except  as  the  same  may  be  modified  by  the  Council. 

Salary. 

Section  31.  The  City  Manager  shall  receive  such  salary  as  may  be 
fixed  by  ordinance  of  the  Council. 

ADMINISTRATIVE     OFFICERS     AND     DEPARTMENTS. 

City  Solicitor. 

Section  32.  The  City  Solicitor  shall  be  an  Attorney  at  Law  admitted 
to  practise  in  the  State  of  Ohio  and  shall  have  such  assistants  of  like  qual- 
ifications as  the  Council  may  authorize.  The  City  Solicitor  shall  be  the 
legal  adviser  of  and  attorney  and  counsel  for  the  municipality,  and  for  all 
officers  and  departments  thereof  in  matters  relating  to  their  official 
duties.  He  shall  prepare  all  contracts,  bonds  and  other  instruments  in 
writing  in  which  the  municipality  is  concerned,  and  shall  endorse  on  each 
his  approval  of  the  form  and  correctness  thereof;  -and  no  such  contract 
with  the  City  shall  take  effect  until  his  approval  is  endorsed,  thereon.  He 
or  t  his  assistant  shall  be  the  Prosecuting  Attorney  of  the  Police  Court  or 
any  Municipal  Court  which  may  hereafter  be  established,  and  he  shall 

— 15 — 


perform  such  other  duties  as  the  Council  shall  require. 

City    Auditor. 

Section  33.  The  City  Auditor  shall  issue  all  warrants  for  the  payment 
of  money  by  the  City.  He  shall  keep  an  accurate  account  of  all  taxes  and 
assessments,  of  all  money  due  to,  and  of  all  receipts  and  disbursements  by 
the  municipality,  of  all  its  assets  and  liabilities,  and  of  all  appropriations 
made  by  the  Council.  At  the  end  of  each  fiscal  year,  and  oftener  if  required 
by  the  Council,  he  shall  audit  the.  accounts  of  the  several  departments  and 
officers,  and  shall  audit  all  other  accounts  in  which  the  municipality  is 
interested.  He  may  prescribe  the  form  of  reports  to  be  rendered  to  his 
department,  and  the  method  of  keeping  accounts  by  all  other  departments, 
and  he  shall  require  reports  from  each  department  at  such  stated  intervals 
and  such  other  times  as  he  may  deem  necessary,  showing  all  moneys 
received  by  such  department  and  the  disposition  thereof.  Upon  the  deatli, 
resignation,  rernoval,  or  expiration  of  the  term  of  any  officer,  the  City 
Auditor  shall  audit  the  accounts  of  such  officer,  and  if  such  officer  shall 
be  found  indebted  to  the  municipality  he  shall  immediately  give  notice 
thereof  to  the  Council  and  the'City  Solicitor;  and  the  latter  shall  forthwith 
proceed  to  collect  the  same. 

City    Treasurer. 

Section  34.  The  City  Treasurer  shall  be  the  custodian  of  all  moneys 
of  the  municipality,  and  shall  keep  and  preserve  the  same  in  such  manner 
and  in  such  place  or  places  as  shall  be  determined  by  the  Council.  He 
shall  pay  out  money  only  on  warrants  issued  by  the  City  Auditor.  Tht, 
office  of  the  City  Treasurer  may  be  combined  with  any  other  office  not 
inconsistent  therewith. 

Purchasing    Agent. 

Section  35.  The  Purchasing  Agent  shall  purchase  all  supplies  for  the 
city,  and  approve  all  vouchers  for  the  payment  of  the  same.  He  shall  a'so 
conduct  all  sales  of  personal  property  which  the  Council  may  authorize  to 
be  sold  as  having  become  unnecessary  or  unfit  for  the  city's  use. 

All  purchases  and  sales  shall  conform  to  such  regulations  as  the 
Council  may  from  time  to  time  prescribe;  but  in  either  case,  if  any  amount 
in  excess  of  five  hundred  dollars  is  involved,  opportunity  for  competition 
shall  be  given.  Where  purchases  or  sales  are  made  on  joint  account  of 
separate  departments,  the  Purchasing  Agent  shall  apportion  the  charge 
or  credit  to  each  department.  He  shall  see  to  the  delivery  of  suppliss  to 
each  department,  and  take  and  retain  the  receipt  of  each  department 
therefor.  '  Until  the  Council  shall  otherwise  provide,  the  City  Manager  r:\nU 
act  as  such  Purchasing  Agent. 

Trustees  of  the  Sinking  Fund. 

Section  36.  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Sinking  Fund  as  now 
organized  and  existing  shall  continue,  and  such  Board  and  all  matters 
pertaining  thereto  shall  be  governed  by  the  general  laws  of  the  State  in  effect 
January  1st,  1916,  or  thereafter  enacted  and  applicable  thereto;  excepting 
that  the  members  of  said  Board  shall  serve  without  compensation.  The 

— 16 — 


present  members  of  said  Board  shall  continue  to  serve  for  their  unexpired 
terms;  but  their  successors  shall  be  appointed,  and  vacancies  in  said 
Board  shall  be  filled,  by  the  President  of  the  Council,  with  the  coriscn:  of 
said  Council  entered  upon  its  journal. 

Other  Boards  and  Departments. 

Section  37.  Excepting  the  officers,  boards,  commissions  and  depart- 
ments hereinbefore  specially  mentioned  and  provided  for,  the  Council  shall 
have  power  to  establish,  create,  combine  or  abolish  offices,  boards,' depart- 
ments or  divisions  when  in  its  opinion  the  proper  administration  of  the 
business  of  the  city  so  requires;  provided  that  all  other  admnistrative 
departments  in  existence  January  1st,  1916,  shall  continue  until  otherwise 
provided  by  the  Council,  and  all  administrative  boards  in  charge  of  any 
administrative  department  of  the  city  shall  continue  in  office,  and  their 
successors  shall  be  appointed  as  heretofore,  exceping  as  other  provision 
Is  made  in  this  Charter,  or  may  hereafter  be  made  by  the  Council. 

Political    Activity. 

Section  38.,  Neither  the  City  Manager,  nor  any  person  in  the  employ 
of  the  city  under  him  shall  take  any  active  part  in  securing,  or  contribute 
any  money  toward,  the  nomination  or  election  of  any  candidate  or  candi- 
dates for  the  office  of  Member  of  Council,  excepting  to  answer  such  ques- 
tions as  may  be  put  to  him  and  as  he  may  desire  to  answer. 

Penalties. 

Section  39.  The  provisions  of  the  last  preceding  section  and  of 
Section  nineteen  shall  not  be  considered  exclusive,  but  as  in  addition  to 
any  other  provisions  of  the  general  law  of  the  State  applicable  to  the  case; 
and  a  violation  of  any  provision  of  such  sections  shall  subject  the  offender 
to  removal  from  his  office  or  employment,  and  to  punishment  by  a  fine  of 
not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars. 

CIVIL      SERVICE. 

The  Civil  Service  Commission. 

Section  40.  The  Council  may  appoint  three  qualified  electors  of  the 
city,  no  two  of  whom  shall  belong  to  the  same  political  party,  as  members 
of  the  Civil  Service  Commission  to  serve  for  a  term  of  three  years,  and 
until  their  successors  have  been  appointed  and  have  qualified.  A  vacancy 
shall  be  filled  by  the  Council,  for  the  unexpired  term.  The  Council  may  at 
any  time  remove  any  Commissioner  for  inefficiency,  neglect  of  duty  or 
malfeasance  in  office,  having  first  given  to  such  Commissioner  a  copy  ot" 
the  charges  against  him  and  an  opportunity  to  be  publicly  heard,  in  person 
or  by  .counsel,  in  his  own  defense;  and  any  such  removal  shall  be  final; 
provided,  however,  that  the  members  of  the  existing  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission shall  continue  in  office  for  the  terms  for  which  they  have  been 
appointed,  and'  the  Civil  Service  of  the  city,  and  such  Commission  and  all 
matters  pertaining  thereto,  shall  be  governed  by  the  general  laws  of  the 
State  applicable  thereto,  until  otherwise  prescribed  by  ordinance  of  the 
Council. 


Appointments  and  Removals. 

Section  41.  Appointments  and  promotions  in  the  Civil  Service  of  the 
City  shall  be  made  according  to  merit  and  fitness,  to  be  ascertained,  as  far 
as  practicable,  by  competitive  examinations.  Ordinances  may  be  passed 
to  enforce  this  provision,  to  fix  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Commission 
and  to  prescribe  rules  and  regulations  governing  the  Civil  Service  and 
determining  the  method  by  which  persons  in  the  Civil  Service  may  be 
promoted,  transferred,  reduced  or  discharged;  provided  that  all  persons 
holding  positions  in  the  Civil  Service  of  the  city  at  the  time  of  the  adoption 
of  this  Charter,  shall  retain  their  positions  until  promoted,  transferred, 
reduced  or  discharged  according  to  law  or  in  accordance  with  such 
ordinances. 

ELECTIONS. 

Nomination  of  Candidates. 

Section  42.  Candidates  for  the  elective  offices  of  the  city  shall  be 
nominated  by  petition  only.  Each  petition  shall  contain  the  name  of  the 
candidate,  giving  his  place  of  residence  with  street  and  number,  if  any, 
shall  specify  the  office  for  which  he  is  nominated,  shall  request  the  nom- 
ination of  but  the  one  candidate  named  therein,  and  shall  be  signed  by 
qualified  electors  of  the  city  not  less  in  number  than  five  (5)  per  cent,  of 
the  total  number  of  registered  voters  therein. 

Such  petitions  shall  contain  a  provision  that  each  signer  thereto  there- 
by pledges  himself  to  support  and  vote  for  the  candidate  whose  nomination 
is  therein  requested,  and  each  elector  signing  a  petition  shall  add  to  his 
signature  his  place  of  residence  giving  street  and  number,  if  any,  voting 
precinct,  and  date  of  signing,  and  may  subscribe  to  one  nomination  paper  for 
each  of  the  places  to  be  filled  and  no  more.  All  signatures  shall  be  made 
with  ink  or  indelible  pencil. 

Signers  of  such  petitions  shall  insert  in  them  the  names  of  five  electors 
as  a  committee  who  may  fill  vacancies  caused  by  death  or  withdrawal.  The 
signatures  of  all  the  petitioners  need  not  be  appended  to  one  paper,  but  to 
each  separate  paper  there  shall  be  attached  an  affidavit  of  the  circulator 
thereof,  stating  the  number  of  signers  thereto,  that  each  person  signed 
in  his  presence  on  the  date  mentioned,  that  each  signature  is  that  of  the 
person  whose  name  it  purports  to  be,  and  that  all  other  statements  therein 
are  true  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge  and  belief. 

Such  petitions  shall  not  be  signed  by  any  elector  more  than  sixty  days 
prior  to  the  day  of  the  election  and  such  petitions  shall  be  filed  with  the 
Board  of  Deputy  State  Supervisors  of  Elections  of  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio, 
not  less  than  thirty-five  days  prior  to  the  day  of  said  election. 

Acceptance. 

Section  43.  Any  person  whose  name  has  been  submitted  for  candidacy 
by  any  such  petition  shall  file  his  acceptance  of  such  candidacy  with  the 
election  authorities  not  later  than  thirty  days  previous  to  such  election; 
otherwise  his  name  shall  not  appear  upon  the  ballot. 

Ballots. 

Section  44.      The  ballots  used  in  all  municipal  elections  shall  be  with- 

— 18 — 


out  party  marks  or  designations.  The  Whole  number  of  ballots  to  be 
printed  for  the  election  of  candidates  for  any  elective  office  of  the  city  shall 
be  divided  by  the  number  of  such  candidates,  and  the  quotient  so  obtained 
shall  be  the  number  of  ballots  in  each  series  of  ballots  to  be  printed.  The 
names  of  the  candidates  shall  be  arranged  in  alphabetical  order  and  the 
first  series  of  ballots  printed.  The  first  name  shall  then  be  placed  last  and 
the  next  series  of  ballots  printed,  and  this  process  shall  be  repeated  until 
each  name  shall  have  been  first.  These  ballots  shall  then  be  combined 
into  tablets  with  no  two  of  the  same  order  of  names  together.  The  ballots, 
shall  in  all  respects  conform  as  nearly  as  may  be  to  the  ballots  presribed 
by  the  general  election  laws  of  the  State. 

Time  of  Election. 

Section  45.  Regular  municipal  elections  shall  be  held  on  the  first 
Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November  in  the  odd  numbered  years. 
Any  matter  which  by  the  terms  of  this  Charter  may  be  submitted  to  the 
electors  of  the  city  at  any  special  election  may  be  submitted  on  the  day  of 
any  primary  election  or  regular  election. 

Election. 

Section  46.  The  candidates  nominated  by  petition  as  provided  in 
Section  42  shall  be  placed  on  the  ballot  at  the  next  regular  municipal  election 
and  those  candidates,  equal  in  number  to  the  places  to  be  filled,  who  shall 
receive  the  highest  number  of  votes  at  such  regular  municipal  election,  shall 
be  declared  elected.  A  tie  between  two  or  more  candidates  for  the  same 
office  shall  be  decided  by  lot  under  the  direction  of  the  election  authorities, 
as  provided  by  the  general  election  laws  of  the  State. 

General  Laws  to  Apply. 

Section  47.  Objections  to  nominating  petitions  and  papers  may  be 
made  within  the  time  prescribed,  and  the  same  shall  be  considered  by  the 
election  authorities,  under  the  general  laws  applying  to  objections  to 
nomination  papers  in  municipalities,  and  all  elections  shall  be  conducted, 
and  the  results  canvassed  and  certified,  by  the  election  authorities  pre- 
scribed by  general  laws,  and,  except  as  otherwise  provided  by  this  Charter, 
or  by  ordinance  or  resolution  of  the  Council  hereafter  enacted,  the  general 
laws  shall  control  in  all  such  elections. 

THE     RECALL. 

Application. 

Section  48.  Any  or  all  members  of  the  Council,  provided  for  in  this 
Charter,  may  be  removed  from  office  by  the  electors-  The  procedure  to 
effect  such  removal  shall  be  as  follows: 

Procedure. 

Section  49.  A  petition  demanding  that  the  question  of  removing 
such  officer  or  officers  be  submitted  to  the  electors  shall  be  filed  with  the 
Clerk  of  the  Council.  Such  petition  shall  be  signed  by  at  least  twenty-five 
(25)  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  registered  voters  in  the  municipality 

—19 — 


but  all  the  signatures  to  such  petition  need  not  be  appended  to  one  paper. 

How  Procured. 

Section  50.  Petition  papers  shall  be  procured  only  from  the  Clerk  of 
the  Council,  who  shall  keep  a  sufficient  number  of  such  blank  petitions 
on  file  for  distribution  as  herein  provided.  Prior  to  the  issuance  of  such 
petition  papers  an  affidavit  shall  be  made  by  one  or  more  qualified  electors 
and  filed  with  the  Clerk  of  the  Council,  stating  the  name  of  the  member 
or  members  of  Council  whose  removal  is  sought.  The  Clerk  of  the  Council, 
upon  issuing  any  such  petition  papers  to  an  elector,  shall  enter  in  a  record, 
to  be  kept  in  his  office,  the  name  of  the  elector  to  whom  issued,  the  date 
of  such  issuance  and  the  number  of  papers  issued  and  shall  certify  on  each 
paper  the  name  of  the  elector  to  whom  issued  and  the  date  of  issue.  No 
petition  paper  shall  be  accepted  as  part  of  the  petition  unless  it  is  so  issued 
and  bears  such  certificate  and  unless  it  be  filed  as  provided  herein. 

Signatures,  Requirements  of. 

Section  51.  Each  signer  of  a  recall  petition  shall  sign  his  name  in 
ink  or  indelible  pencil  and  shall  place  after  his  name  his  place  of  residence 
by  street  and  number.  To  each  such  petition  paper  there  shall  be  attached 
an  affidavit  of  the  circulator  thereof,  stating  the  number  of  signers  to 
such  part  of  the  petition  and  -that  each  signature  appended  to  the  paper 
was  made  in  his  presence  and  is  the  genuine  signature  of  the  person  whose 
name  it  purports  to  be. 

Filing. 

Section  52.  All  papers  comprising  a  recall  petition  shall  be  assembled 
and  filed  with  the  Clerk  of  the  Council,  as  one  instrument,  within  thirty 
days  after  the  filing  with  the  Clerk  of  the  Council  of  the  affidavit  stating 
the  name  of  the  member  or  members  of  Council  whose  removal  is  sought. 

Notice. 

Section  53.  At  the  expiration  of  said  period  of  thirty  days  the  Clerk 
of  the  Council  shall  certify  upon  such  petition  whether  the  signatures 
thereto  amount  to  at  least  twenty-five  (25)  per  cent,  of  the  registered  voters 
of  the  city.  If  such  signatures  do  amount  to  such  per  cent.,  he  shall  at 
once  serve  notice  of  that  fact  upon  the  member  or  members  of  Council 
designated  in  the  petition,  and  also  deliver  to  the  election  authorities  a 
copy  of  the  original  petition  with  his  certificate  as  to  the  percentage  of 
registered  voters  who  signed  the  same,  and  a  certificate  as  to  the  date  of  his 
said  notice  to  the  member  or  members  of  Council  designated  in  the  petition. 

Recall  Election. 

Section  54.  If  the  member  or  members  of  Council,  or  any  of  them, 
designated  in  the  petition,  file  with  the  Clerk  of  the  Council  within  five 
days  after  said  notice  from  the  Clerk  of  the  Council,  his  or  their  written 
resignation,  the  same  shall  be  irrevocable  and  the  Clerk  of  the  'Council  shall 
at  once  notify  the  election  authorities  of  the  fact  and  the  election  authorities 
shall  forthwith  order  and  fix  a  day  for  holding  a  recall  election  for  the 
removal  of  those  not  resigning.  Such  election  shall  be  held  not  less  than 

—20— 


thirty  nor  more  than  sixty  days  after  the  expiration  of  the  period  of  five 
days  last"  mentioned,  at  the  same  time  as  any  other  general  or  special 
election  held  within  such  period;  but  if  no  general  or  special  election  be 
held  within  such  period  the  election  authorities  shall  call  a  special 
recall  election. 

liallots. 

Section  55.  The  ballots  at  such  recall  election  shall  conform  to  the 
following  requirements.  With  respect  to  each  person  whose  removal  is 
sought,  the  question  shall  be  submitted;  "Shall  (name  of  person)  be 
removed  from  the  office  of  Member  of  Council  by  recall?"  Immediately 
following  each  s.uch  question  there  shall  be  printed  on  the  ballots  the  two 
propositions  in  the  order  here  set  forth: 

"For  the  recall  of  (name  of  person)." 

"Against  the  recall  of   (name  of  person.)" 

Immediately  to  the  left  of  each  of  the  propositions  shall  be  placed  a 
square  in  which  the  electors,  by  making  a  cross  mark  (X),  may  vote  for 
either  of  such  propositions. 

Filling  of  Vacancies. 

Section  56.  In  any  such  election,  if  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  on 
the  question  of  removal  of  any  member  of  Council  are  affirmative,  the 
person  whose  removal  is  sought  shall  thereupon  be  deemed  removed  from 
office  upon  the  announcement  of  the  official  canvass  of  that  election,  and 
the  vacancy  caused  by  such  recall  shall  be  filled  by  the  remainder  of  the 
Council  according  to  the  provisions  of  Section  6  of  this  Charter. 

If,  however,  an  election  is  held  for  the  recall  of  more  than  three 
members  of  Council,  candidates  to  succeed  them  for  their  unexpired  terms 
shall  be  voted  upon  at  the  same  election,  and  shall  be  nominated  by  peti- 
tions signed,  dated  and  verified  in  the  manner  required  for  petitions  pre- 
senting names  of  candidates  for  regular  municipal  elections  and  similar 
in  form  to  such  petitions,  and  filed  with  the  election  authorities  at  least 
thirty  days  prior  to  such  recall  election.  But  no  such  nominating  petition 
shall  be  signed  or  circulated  until  after  the  time  has  expired  for  signing  the 
copies  of  the  petition  for  the  recall,  and  any  signatures  thereon  antedating 
such  time  shall  not  be  counted. 

Counting  the  \ote. 

Section  57.  Candidates  shall  not  be  nominated  to  succeed  any  par- 
ticular member  of  Council;  but  if  only  one  member  of  Council  is  removed 
at  such  election,  the  candidate  at  such  election  receiving  the  highest 
number  of  votes  shall  be  declared  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy;  and  if  more 
than  one  member  of  Council  is  removed  at  such  election,  such  candidates 
receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes  equal  in  number  to  the  number  of 
members  of  Council  removed  shall  be  declared  elected  to  fill  the  vacancies; 
and  among  the  successful  candidates,  those  receiving  the  greater  number 
of  votes  shall  be  declared  elected  for  the  longer  terms.  Cases  of  ties,  and 
all  other  matters  not  herein  specially  provided  for,  shall  be  determined  by 
the  rules  governing  elections  generally. 

— 21 — 


Effect  of  Resignations. 

Section  58.  No  proceedings  for  the  recall  of  more  than  three  members 
of  the  Council  at  the  same  election  shall  be  defeated  in  whole  or  in  part 
by  the  resignation  of  any  or  all  of  them,  but  upon  the  resignation  of  any 
of  them  the  Council  shall  have  power  to  fill  the  vacancy  until  a  successor 
is  elected,  and  the  proceedings  for  the  recall  and  the  election  of  successors 
shall  continue  and  have  the  same  effect  as  though  there  had  been  no 
resignation. 

Miscellaneous  Provisions. 

Section  59.  Except  as  herein  otherwise  provised,  no  petition  to  recall 
any  member  of  Council  shall  be  filed  within  six  months  after  he  takes 
office.  No  person  removed  by  recall  shall  be  eligible  to  be  elected  or 
appointed  to  the  Council  for  a  period  o*  two  years  after  the  date  of  such 
recall.  The  Clerk  of  the  Council  shall  preserve  in  his  office  all  papers 
comprising  or  connected  with  a  petition  for  a  recall  for  the  period  of  one 
year  after  the  filing  of  the  same.  The  method  of  removal  herein  provided 
Is  in  addition  to  such  other  methods  as  are,  or  may  be,  provided  by  general 
law. 

Offenses  Relating  to  Petitions. 

Section  60.  No  person  shall  falsely  impersonate  another,  or  pur- 
icsely  write  hi?  r.arae  or  residence  fai.eeiy,  in  the  signing  of  any  petition 
for  nomination,  initiative,  referendum  or  recall,  or  forge  any  name  thereto, 
or  sign  any  such  paper  with  knowledge  that  he  is  not  a  qualified  elector 
of  the  city.  Nor  shall  any  person  employ  or  pay  another,  or  accept  em- 
ployment or  payment,  for  circulating  any  nomination,  initiative,  referendum 
or  recall  petition  upon  the  basis  of  the  number  of  signatures  procured 
thereto.  Any  person  violating  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  section  shall 
be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shall,  upon  conviction,  be  fined 
in  any  sum  not  to  exceed  one  hundred  dollars  and  the  costs  of  prosecution! 
The  foregoing  provisions  shall  not  be  held  to  be  exclusive  of,  but  in  addition 
to,  all  laws  of  the  State  prescribing  penalties  for  the  same  offenses  or  for 
-other  offenses  relating  to  the  same  matter. 

APPROPRIATIONS. 

The  Estimate. 

Section  61.  The  fiscal  year  of  the  city  shall  begin  on  the  first  day  of 
January.  On  or  before  the  first  day  of  November  of  each  year  the  City 
Manager  shall  submit  to  the  Council  an  estimate  of  the  expenditures  and 
revenues  of  the  city  departments  for  the  ensuing  year.  This  estimate  shall 
l>e  compiled  from  detailed  information  obtained  from  the  several  depart- 
ments on  uniform  blanks  to  be  furnished  by  the  City  Manager.  The  class- 
ification of  the  estimate  of  expenditures  shall  be  as  nearly  uniform  as 
possible  for  the  main  functional  divisions  of  all  departments,  and  shall  give 
in  parallel  columns  the  following  information: 

(a)  A  detailed  estimate  of  the  expense  of  conducting  each  depart- 
ment as  submitted  by  the  department. 

—22— 


(b)  Expenditures    for   corresponding    items    for    the    last   two    fiscal 
years. 

(c)  Expenditures  for  corresponding  items  for  the  current  fiscal  year, 
including    adjustments    due    to    transfers    between    appropriations    plus   an 
estimate  of  expenditures  necessary  to  complete  the  current  fiscal  year. 

(d)  Amount  of  supplies  and   material  on  hand  at  the  date  of  the 
preparation  of  the  invoice. 

(e)  Increase  or  decrease  of  requests  compared  with  the  corresponding 
appropriations  for  the  current  year. 

(f)  Such   other   information   as   is  required   by  the   Council   or   that 
the  City  Manager  may  deem  advisable  to  submit. 

(g)  The  recommendation  of  the  City  Manager  as  to  the  amounts  to  be 
appropriated    with    reasons    therefor   in    such    detail    as    the    Council    may 
direct. 

Sufficient  copies  of  such  estimates  shall  be  prepared  and  submitted, 
that  there  may  be  copies  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  Council  for 
inspection  by  the  public. 

Appropriation  Ordinance. 

Section  62.  Upon  receipt  of  such  estimate  the  Council  shall  prepare 
an  appropriation  ordinance  but  before  finally  acting  upon  such  tentative 
appropriation  it  shall  fix  a  time  and  place  for  holding  a  public  hearing  upon 
the  tentative  appropriation,  and  shall  give  public  notice  of  such  hearing. 
The  Council  shall  not  pass  the  appropriation  ordinance  until  ten  days  after 
such  public  hearing. 

Transfer  of  Funds. 

Section  63.  Upon  request  of  the  City  Manager  the  Council  may 
transfer  any  part  of  an  unencumbered  balance  of  an  appropriation  to  a 
purpose  or  object  for  which  the  appropriation  for  the  current  year  has 
proved  insufficient  or  may  authorize  a  transfer  to  be  made  between  items 
appropriated  to  the  same  office  or  department. 

Unemcumbered  Balances. 

Section  64.  At  the  close  of  each  fiscal  year  the  unencumbered  balance 
of  each  appropriation  shall  revert  to  the  respective  fund  from  which  it  was 
appropriated  and  shall  be  subject  to  future  appropriation.  Any  accruing 
revenue  of  the  city,  not  appropriated  as  hereinbefore  provided,  and  any 
balances  at  any  time  remaining  after  the  purposes  of  the  appropriation  shall 
have  been  satisfied  or  abandoned,  may  from  time  to  time  be  appropriated 
by  the  Council  to  such  uses  as  will  not  conflict  with  any  uses  for  which 
such  revenues  specifically  accrued.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the 
treasury  of  the  city,  nor  shall  any  obligation  for  the  expenditure  of  money 
incurred,  except  pursuant  to  the  appropriations  made  by  the  Council,  but 
nothing  in  this  or  the  preceding  section  shall  be  construed  to  authorize  the 
.application  of  revenue  derived  from  a  public  utility  of  the  city  to  any  other 
purpose  than  that  of  the  utility  from  which  the  same  was  derived. 

—23— 


PAYMENTS — REPORTS. 
Payment   of   Claims. 

Section  65.  No  warrant  for  the  payment  of  any  claim  shall  be  issued 
by  the  City  Auditor  until  such  claim  shall  have  been  approved  by  the  head 
of  the  department  for  which  the  indebtedness  was  incurred  and  by  the  City 
Manager,  and  such  officers  and  their  sureties  shall  be  liable  to  the  mun- 
icipality for  all  loss  or  damage  sustained  by  the  municipality  by  reason  of 
the  corrupt  approval  of  any  such  claim  against  the  municipality.  When- 
ever any  claim  shall  be  presented  to  the  City  Auditor  he  shall  have  power 
to  require  evidence  that  the  amount  claimed  is  justly  due  and  is  in  conform- 
ity to  law  and  ordinance,  and  for  that  purpose  he  may  summon  before  him 
any  officer,  agent,  or  employee,  of  any  department  of  the  municipality, 
or  any  other  person,  and  examine  him  upon  oath  or  affirmation  relative 
thereto. 

Certification  of  Funds. 

Section  66.  No  contract,  agreement  or  other  obligation  involving  the 
expenditure  of  money  shall  be  entered  into,  nor  shall  any  ordinance,  reso- 
lution or  order  for  the  expenditure  of  money  be  passed  by  the  Council,  or  be 
authorized  by  any  officer  of  the  city,  unless  the  City  Auditor  shall  first 
certify  to  the  Council  or  to  the  proper  officer,  as  the  case  may  be,  that  the 
money  required  for  such  contract,  agreement,  obligation  or  expenditure,  is 
in  the  treasury,  to  the  credit  of  the  fund  from  which  it  is  to  be  drawn,  and 
not  appropriated  for  any  other  purpose,  which  certificate  shall  be 
filed  and  immediately  recorded.  The  sum  so  certified  shall  not  thereafter 
be  considered  unappropriated  until  the  city  is  discharged  from  the  con- 
tract, agreement  or  obligation.  The  provisions  of  this  section  shall  not 
apply  to  contracts  or  proceedings  relating  to  improvements  any  part  of  the 
cost  of  which  is  to  be  paid  by  special  assessments. 

Money  in  the  Fund. 

Section  67.  All  moneys  actually  in  the  treasury  to  the  credit  of  the 
fund  from  which  they  are  to  be  drawn,  and  all  moneys  applicable  to  the 
payment  of  the  obligation  or  appropriation  involved  that  are  anticipated 
to  come  into  the  treasury  before  the  maturity  of  such  contract,  agreement, 
or  obligation,  from  taxes,  assessments,  or  license  fees,  or  from  sales  of 
services,  products  or  by-products  of  any  city  undertaking,  and  moneys  to  be 
derived  from  lawfully  authorized  bonds  sold  and  in  process  of  delivery, 
for  the  purposes  of  such  certificate  shall  be  deemed  in  the  treasury  to  the 
credit  of  the  appropriate  fund  and  shall  be  subject  to  such  certification. 

Financial  Reports. 

Section  68.  The  Council  shall  have  furnished  them  a  monthly  balance 
showing  in  detail  all  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  city  for  the  preceding 
month;  and  the  aggregate  receipts  and  expenditures  of  each  department 
shall  be  published  by  the  Council  in  such  manner  as  to  provide  full  pub- 
licity. At  the  end  of  each  year  the  Council  shall  have  printed  an  annual 
report,  in  pamphlet  form,  giving  a  classified  statement  of  all  receipts, 
expenditures,  assets  and  liabilities  of  the  city;  a  detailed 

—24— 


comparison  of  such  receipts  and  expenditures  with  those  of  the  year  preced- 
ing; a  summary  of  the  Council  proceedings  and  summary  of  the  operations 
of  the  administrative  departments  for  the  previous  twelve  months.  A  copy 
of  this  report  shall  be  furnished  the  State  Bureau  of  Accounting,  the 
Public  Library  and  any  citizen  of  the  city  who  may  apply  therefor  at  the 
office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Council. 

IMPROVEMENTS — CONTRACTS. 

Limitation  of  Assessments. 

Section  69.  In  levying  special  assessments  to  pay  any  part  of  the 
cost  of  any  public  work  or  improvement,  the  Council  shall  not  exceed  any 
limitation  as  to  the  amount  thereof  which  may  be  prescribed  by  the  gen- 
eral laws  of  the  State  applicable  to  municipalities  and  in  force  at  the  time 
it  is  determined  by  the  Council  that  any  such  work  shall  be  done  or  im- 
provement made.  Unless  for  special  reasons  which,  shall  be  stated  in  the 
ordinance  levying  an  assessment  or  providing  for  the  issue  of  bonds  to 
pay  any  part  of  the  cost  of  any  such  improvement  to  be  made  pursuant  to 
contract,  no  such  ordinance  shall  be  passed,  or  assessment  levied  or 
money  borrowed,  until  bids  for  the  labor  and  material  have  been  received 
and  the  approximate  cost  of  the  improvement  determined. 

Improvements  by  Direct  Labor. 

Section  70.  Nothing  in  the  preceding  section  shall  be  construed  to 
prohibit  the  Council  from  doing  any  public  work  or  making  any  public 
improvement  by  the  direct  employment  of  the  necessary  labor  and  the 
purchase  of  the  necessary  supplies  and  materials,  with  separate  accounting 
as  to  each  improvement  so  made,  but  the  Council  may  upon  so  declaring 
by  ordinance  or  resolution  cause  any  public  work  or  improvement  to  be 
done  or  made  in  such  manner. 

Sewer,  Water  and  Gas  Connections. 

Section  71.  Before  paving  or  otherwise  surfacing  or  resurfacing  any 
street  or  alley  of  the  city,  the  Council  shall  determine  the  time  within  which 
sewer,  water,  gas  or  other  connections  shall  be  constructed,  and  shall  give 
notice  thereof  to  the  persons  or  corporations  required  to  make  the  same, 
and  if  such  persons  or  corporations  fail  to  make  any  such  connection  when 
so  required  no  permission  to  make  the  same  shall  thereafter  be  granted 
within  five  years  from  the  completion  of  any  such  street  improvement 
unless  with  the  consent  of  five  members  of  the  Council,  expressed  by  reso- 
lution adopted  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Council  and  stating  the  reasons 
therefor  and  the  conditions  under  which  the  same  shall  be  made.  Nothing 
herein  shall  be  construed  to  prohibit  the  Council  from  providing  that  such 
connections  may  be  made  by  the  city  and  the  cost  thereof  assessed  against 
the  lots  and  lands  specially  benefited  thereby. 

Street  Sprinkling. 

Section  72.  Council  may  provide  by  ordinance  or  resolution  for  the 
sprinkling  of  streets  or  parts  of  streets  with  water,  or  treating  the  same 
with  oil  or  other  dust  preventive,  and  for  assessing  the  cost  thereof  against 

— 25 — 


the  abutting  property  if  not  paid  for  by  the  owners  of  said  property  within 
the  time  specified  in  such  ordinance  or  resolution.  In  determining  what 
streets  or  parts  of  streets  shall  be  so  sprinkled  or  treated  Council  shall  be 
governed  as  far  as  practicable  by  the  wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  owners 
of  the  abutting  property  living  thereon. 

Assessment  for  Removal  of  Snow,  Weeds,  Etc. 

Section  73.  Council  may  provide  by  ordinance  or  resolution  for 
assessing  against  the  abutting  property  the  cost  of  removing  snow  and 
ice  from  the  sidewalks  of  the  city,  and  for  assessing  against  property  the 
cost  of  cutting  and  removing  therefrom  noxious  weeds  and  rubbish. 

Expenditures  in  Excess  of  $10OO. 

Section  74.  A  proposed  expenditure,  other  than  for  the  compensation 
of  persons  employed  by  the  city,  in  excess  of  one  thousand  dollars,  shall 
first  be  authorized  by  ordinance  of  the  Council,  and  the  contract  therfor 
shall  be  made  upon  the  approval  of  the  City  Manager  and  the  Council. 

Time  of  Making  Contracts. 

Section  75.  The  Council  shall  not  authorize  or  enter  into  any  con- 
tract which  is  not  to  go  into  full  operation  during  the  term  for  which,  all 
the  members  of  such  Council  are  elected. 

Modification  of   Contracts. 

Section  76.  When  it  becomes  necessary  in  the  opinion  of  the  City 
Manager,  in  the  prosecution  of  any  work  or  improvement  under  contract, 
to  make  alterations  or  modifications  in  such  contract,  such  alterations  or 
modifications,  if  made,  shall  be  of  no  effect  until  the  price  to  be  paid  for 
the  work  and  material,  or  both,  under  the  altered  or  modified  contract, 
has  been  agreed  upon  in  writing  and  signed  by  the  contractor  and  by  the 
City  Manager  and  approved  by  the  Council. 

Bids  in  Excess  of  Estimate. 

Section  77.  No  contracts  shall  be  awarded  upon  bids  which  as  a  whole, 
or  in  aggregate,  if  bids  for  parts  of  the  work  are  taken,  exceed  the  estimate 
for  the  improvement  contemplated. 

Contracts — When  Void. 

Section  78.  All  contracts,  agreements  or  other  obligations  entered 
into  and  all  ordinances  passed,  or  resolutions  and  orders  adopted  contrary 
to  the  provisions  of  the  preceding  sections,  shall  be  void.. 

FRANCHISES. 

Grants  Limited. 

Section  79.  No  grant,  or  renewal  thereof,  to  construct  and  operate  a 
public  utility  in  the  streets  and  public  grounds  of  the  city  shall  be  made 
by  the  Council  to  any  individual,  company  or  corporation  in  violation  of  any 
of  the  limitations  contained  in  this  Charter. 

—26— 


Period  of  Grants. 

Section  80.  No  such  grant  shall  be  exclusive,  nor  shall  it  be  made- 
for  a  longer  period  than  twenty  years.  No  such  grant  shall  be  renewed 
earlier  than  two  years  prior  to  its  expiration  unless  the  Council  shall  by  a 
vote  of  at  least  five  of  its  members  first  declare  by  ordinance  its  intention 
of  considering  a  renewal  thereof.  All  grants  of  the  right  to  make  extensions, 
of  any  public  utility  shall  be  subject  as  far  as  practicable  to  the  terms  of  the 
original  grant  and  shall  expire  therewith. 

Strict  Construction. 

Section  81.  All  franchises  or  privileges  for  the  occupation  of  the 
streets  shall  be  strictly  construed  in  favor  of  the  city  and  no  franchise  or 
privilege  shall  be  held  to  have  been  granted  unless  specified  in  clear  and 
unmistakable  terms. 

Free  Carriage  of  Policemen  and  Firemen. 

Section  82.  The  grant  of  every  franchise  for  a  street,  suburban  or 
interurban  railroad  may  provide  that  policemen  and  firemen  of  the  city 
in  uniform  shall  at  all  times,  while  in  the  actual  discharge  of  their  duties, 
be  allowed  to  ride  in  the  cars  of  such  railroad  within  the  boundaries  of 
the  city  without  paying  therefor  and  with  all  the  rights  of  other  passengers. 

Assignment. 

Section  83.  No  such  grant  shall  be  leased,  assigned  or  otherwise- 
alienated  except  with  the  express  consent  of  the  Council. 

Right  of  Purchase. 

Section  84.  All  such  grants  shall  reserve  to  the  city  the  right  to- 
purchase  or  lease  all  the  property  of  the  utility  used  in  or  useful  for  the 
operation  of  the  utility,  at  a  price  either  fixed  in  the  ordinance  making  the 
grant,  or  to  be  fixed  in  the  manner  provided  by  such  ordinance,  which  price- 
shall  in  no  event  include  any  value  for  the  grant.  Nothing  in  such  ordinance 
shall  prevent  the  city  from  acquiring  such  property  by  condemnation  pro- 
ceedings or  in  any  other  lawful  mode,  but  such  rights  and  remedies  shall 
be  in  addition  to  those  reserved  in  such  ordinance.  Upon  the  acquisition. 
of  such  property  by  purchase,  condemnation  or  otherwise  all  grants  shall 
at  once  terminate. 

V 

Extension  by  Annexation. 

Section  85.  It  shall  be  provided  in  every  such  grant  that  upon  the 
annexation  of  any  territory  to  the  city  the  portion  of  any  such  utility  that 
may  be  located  within  such  annexed  territory  and  upon  the  streets,  alleys, 
or  public  grounds  thereof,  shall  thereafter  be  subject  to  all  the  terms  of  the 
grant  as  though  it  were  an  extension  made  thereof. 

Consents. 

Section  86.  No  consent  of  the  owner  of  property  abutting  on  any 
highway  or  public  ground  shall  be  required  for  the  construction,  extension, 
maintenance  or  operation  of  any  public  untility  by  original  grant  or 

— 27 — 


renewal,  unless  such  public  utility  is  of  such  a  charater  that  its  constrution 
or  operation  is  an  additional  burden  upon  the  rights  of  the  property  owners 
in  such  highways  or  public  grounds. 

Right  of  Regulation. 

Section  87.  All  grants  shall  be  subject  to  the  right  of  the  city, 
whether  in  terms  reserved  or  not,  to  control  at  all  times  the  distribution  of 
space  in,  over,  under  or  across  all  streets,  alleys  or  public  grounds, 
occupied  by  public  utility  fixtures,  and,  when  in  the  opinion  of  the  Council 
the  public  interest  so  requires,  such  fixtures  may  be  caused  to  be  recon- 
structed, relocated,  altered  or  discontinued;  and  said  city  shall  at  all  times 
Tiave  the  power  to  pass  all  regulatory  ordinances  affecting  such  untilities 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Council,  are  required  in  the  interest  of  the 
public  health,  safety  or  accomodation. 

Forfeitures. 

Section  88.  If  any  action  shall  be  instituted  or  prosecuted  directly 
or  indirectly  by  the  grantee  of  any  such  grant,  or  by  its  stockholders  or 
creditors,  to  set  aside  or  have  declared  void  any  of  the  terms  of  such 
grant,  the  whole  of  such  grant  may  be  thereupon  forfeited  and  annulled  at 
the  option  of  the  Council,  to  be  expressed  by  ordinance.  All  such  grants 
shall  make  provision  for  the  declaration  of  a  forfeiture  by  the  Council 
for  the  violation  by  the  grantee  of  any  of  the  terms  thereof. 

Paving  and  Sprinkling. 

Section  89.  The  Council  by  resolution  may  require  the  owner  or 
operator  of  any  railway,  railroad  or  spur  track  lying  within  the  street  limits 
to  lay,  maintain  and  renew  the  pavements  between  the  rails,  and  the 
tracks,  and  for  a  distance  of  one  foot  outside  of  the  track,  and  to  remove 
snow  and  ice  therefrom  and  to  sprinkle  the  roadway  to  a  width  of  not  more 
than  fifty  feet,  and  upon  failure  of  any  such  owner  or  operator  to  comply 
with  the  provisions  of  such  resolution  after  sixty  days'  notice  to  the 
person  having  charge  or  management  of  such  railway,  railroad  or  spur 
track  in  the  city,  the  city  may  do  said  work  directly  or  by  contract,  as  in 
the  case  of  other  improvements,  at  the  expense  of  the  owner  or  operator  of 
such  tracks,  and  all  such  expense  shall  be  reported  by  the  City  Manager  to 
the  Council,  and  shall  be  charged  against  such  owner  or  operator  and 
shall  be  a  lien  upon  all  the  real  estate  and  lease  hold  interest  of  such 
owner  or  operator  within  the  County  of  Ashtabula,  and  such  charge  and 
cost,  together  with  a  penalty  of  $25  for  each  and  every  day  of  failure  on  the 
part  of  such  owner  or  operator  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  such 
resolution,  may  be  colleted  in  any  Court  of  competent  jurisdiction,  or  the 
lien  enforced  in  the  manner  provided  by  law. 

Accounts  and  Reports. 

Section  90.  Every  person  or  corporation  operating  a  public  utility 
within  the  city  limits,  whether  under  a  grant  heretofore  or  hereafter 
obtained,  shall  keep  and  maintain  at  some  place  within  the  city  suitable 
and  complete  books  of  account,  showing  in  detail  the  assets,  financial  obli- 
gations, gross  revenue,  net  profits  and  all  the  operations  of  such  utility 

— 28 — 


which  are  usually  shown  by  a  complete  system  of  bookkeeping.  Each  per- 
son or  corporation,  within  sixty  days  after  the  end  of  each  of  its  fiscal 
years,  unless  the  Council  shall  extend  the  time,  shall  file  with  the  Council 
a  report  for  the  preceding  fiscal  year  showing  the  gross  revenue,  the  net 
profits,  expenses  of  repairs,  betterments  and  additions,  amount  paid  for 
salaries,  amount  paid  for  interest  and  discount,  other  expenses  of  operation, 
and  such  other  information,  if  any,  as  the  Council  from  time  to  time  may 
prescribe.  Council  may  also  prescribe  the  form  for  such  reports. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  person  or  corporation  to  furnish  the 
Council  such  supplementary  or  special  information  about  its  affairs  as 
Council"  may  demand;  and  the  Council,  or  its  authorized  representative, 
shall  at  any  and  all  reasonable  times  have  access  to  all  the  books,  records, 
and  papers  of  each  and  every  such  person  or  corporation,  with  the  privilege 
of  making  copies  of  same  or  any  part  thereof.  The  duties  herein  prescribed 
may  be  specifically  enforced  by  appropriate  legal  proceedings;  and  in 
addition,  each  such  person  or  corporation,  for  failure  to  comply  with  the 
provisions  of  this  section,  shall  be  liable  to  the  City  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  in 
the  sum  of  twenty-five  dollars  per  day  for  each  day  of  such  failure,  to  be 
recovered  in  a  civil  action  in  the  name  of  the  city. 

The  provisions  of  this  section  do  not  apply  to  any  utility  extending  in 
its  operations  to  other  communities  not  properly  suburban  to  the  City  of 
Ashtabula,  Ohio;  but  the  Council  by  ordinance  may  make  the  same,  or  any 
part  thereof,  applicable  to  the  portion  of  any  such  utility  operated  within 
the  limits  of  the  city. 

Grants  Not  Included. 

Section  91.  Revocable  permits  for  laying  spur  tracks  across  or  along 
streets,  alleys  or  public  grounds,  to  connect  a  steam  or  electric  railroad 
with  any  property  in  need  of  switching  facilities  shall  not  be  regarded  as  a 
grant  within  the  meaning  of  this  Charter,  but  may  be  permitted  in  accord- 
ance with  such  terms  and  conditions  as  the  Council  may  by  ordinance 
prescribe. 

General  Provision. 

Section  92.  Nothing  in  this  Charter  contained  shall  operate  in  any 
way,  except  as  herein  specifically  stated,  to  limit  the  Council  in  the  exercise 
of  any  of  its  lawful  powers  respecting  public  utilities,  or  to  prohibit  the 
Council  from  imposing  in  any  such  grant  such  further  restrictions  and  pro- 
visions as  it  may  deem  to  be  in  the  public  interest,  provided  only  that  the 
same  are  not  inconsistent  with  the  provisions  of  this  Charter  or  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  State. 

MISCELLANEOUS  PROVISIONS. 
General  Laws  to  Apply. 

Section  93.  All  general  laws  of  the  State  applicable  to  municipal 
corporations,  now  or  hereafter  enacted,  and  which  are  not  in  conflict  with 
the  provisions  of  this  Charter,  or  with  ordinances  or  resolutions  hereafter 
enacted  by  the  Council,  shall  be  applicable  to  this  City  and  all  officers  and 
departments  thereof;  provided,  however,  that  nothing  contained  in  this 

—29— 


'Charter  shall  be  construed  as  limiting  the  power  of  the  Council  to  enact 
any  ordinance  or  resolution  and  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution  of  the 
iState  or  with  the  express  provisions  of  this  Charter. 

Ordinances  Continued  in  Force. 

Section  94.  All  ordinances  and  resolutions  in  force  at  the  time  of 
the  taking  effect  of  this  Charter,  not  inconsistent  with  its  provisions,  shall 
continue  in  full  force  and  effect  until  amended  or  repealed. 

Continuance  of  Present  Officers. 

Section  95.  All  persons,  except  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion and  the  Police  Judge,  holding  office  at  the  time  this  Charter  is  adopted 
shall  continue  in  office  and  in  the  performance  of  their  duties  until  provi- 
sion shall  have  been  otherwise  made  in  accordance  with  this  Charter 
for  the  performance  or  discontinuance  of  the  duties  of  any  such  office. 
When  such  provision  shall  have  been  made  the  term  of  any  such  officer 
•shall  expire  and  the  office  be  deemed  abolished.  The  powers  which  are 
conferred  and  the  duties  which  are  imposed  upon  any  officer,  board  or 
department  of  the  city  under  the  laws  of  the  State,  or  under  any  city 
ordinance  or  contract  in  force  at  the  time  of  the  taking  effect  of  this  act 
shall,  if  such  office  or  department  is  abolished  by  this  Charter,  be  thereafter 
•exercised  and  discharged  by  the  Council,  officer,  board  or  department 
upon  whom  are  imposed  corresponding  functions,  powers  and  duties  by 
this  Charter  or  by  any  ordinance  or  resolution  of  the  Council  hereafter 
enacted. 

Continuance  of  Contracts   and  Vested  Rights. 

Section  96.  All  vested  rights  of  the  city  shall  continue  to  be  vested 
.•and  shall  not  in  any  manner  be  affected  by  the  adoption  of  this  Charter; 
nor  shall  any  right  or  liability,  or  pending  suit  or  prosecution,  either  in 
behalf  of  or  against  the  city,  be  in  any  manner  affected  by  the  adoption  of 
this  Charter,  unless  otherwise  herein  expressly  provided  to  the  contrary. 
All  contracts  entered  into  by  the  city  or  for  its  benefit  prior  to  the  taking 
-effect  of  this  Charter  shall  continue  in  full  force  and  effect.  All  public 
work  begun  prior  to  the  taking  effect  of  this  Charter  shall  be  continued  and 
perfected  hereunder.  Public  improvements  for  which  legislative  steps  shall 
liave  been  taken,  under  laws  in  force  at  the  time  this  Charter  takes  effect 
may  be  carried  to  completion  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  such  laws. 

Investigation.  » 

Setion  97.  The  Council,  or  any  committee  thereof,  the  City  Manager 
and  any  advisory  board  appointed  by  the  Council  for  such  purpose,  shall 
have  power  at  any  time  to  cause  the  affairs  of  any  department  or  the 
conduct  of  any  officer  or  employee  to  be  investigated;  and  for  such  pur- 
pose shall  have  power  to  compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses  and  the 
production  of  books,  papers  and  other  evidence;  and  for  that  purpose  may 
issue  subpoenas  or  attachments  which  shall  be  signed  by  the  President  or 
Chairman  of  the  body  or  by  the  officer  making  the  investigation,  and 
shall  be  served  by  any  officer  authorized  by  law  to  serve  such  process.  The 
.authority  making  such  investigation  shall  also  have  power  to  cause  the 

— 30— 


testimony  to  be  given  under  oath  to  be  administered  by  some  officer 
authorized  by  general  law  to  administer  oaths;  and  shall  also  have  power 
to  punish  as  for  contempt  any  person  refusing  to  testify  to  any  fact  within 
his  knowledge,  or  to  produce  any  books,  or  papers  under  his  control,  relat- 
ing to  the  matter  under  investigation. 

Oath  of  Office. 

Section  98.  All  officers  before  taking  office  shall  take  the  oath  of 
office  prescribed  by  law,  the  same  to  be  in  writing  and  filed  with  the  City 
Auditor. 

Hours  of  Labor. 

Section  99.  Except  in  case  of  extraordinary  emergencies,  not  to 
exceed  eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  day's  work,  and  not  to  exceed  forty- 
eight  hours  a  week's  work,  for  workmen  engaged  on  any  public  work 
carried  on  or  aided  by  the  municipality,  whether  done  by  contract  or  other- 
wise. The  Council  shall,  by  ordinance,  provide  for  the  enforcement  of  the 
provisions  of  this  section. 

Amendment  of  Charter. 

Section  100.  Amendments  to  this  Charter  may  be  submitted  to  the 
electors  of  the  city  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  Council,  and,  upon  petition 
signed  by  ten  (10)  per  cent,  of  the  electors  of  the  city,  setting  forth  any 
such  proposed  amendment,  shall  be  submitted  by  such  Council.  The  ordin- 
ance providing  for  the  submission  of  any  such  amendment  shall  require 
that  it  be  submitted  to  the  electors  at  the  next  regular  municipal  election 
if  one  shall  occur  not  less  than  sixty  nor  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty 
days  after  its  passage;  otherwise  it  shall  provide  for  the  submission  of 
the  amendment  at  a  special  election  to  be  called  and  held  within  the  time 
aforesaid.  Not  less  than  thirty  days  prior  to  such  election  the  Clerk  of  the 
Council  shall  mail  a  copy  of  the  proposed  amendment  to  each  elector  whose 
name  appears  upon  the  poll  or  registration  books  of  the  last  regular  munici- 
pal or  general  election.  If  such  proposed  amendment  is  approved  by  a 
majority  of  the  electors  voting  thereon  it  shall  become  a  part  of  the  Charter 
at  the  time  fixed  therein.  * 

Saving  Clause. 

Section  101.  If  any  section  or  part  of  a  section  of  this  Charter 
proves  to  be  invalid  or  unconstitutional,  the  same  .shall  not  be  held  to 
invalidate  or  impair  the  validity,  force  or  effect  of  any  other  section  or  part 
of  a  section  of  this  Charter,  unless  it  clearly  appear  that  such  other  section 
or  part  of  a  section  is  wholly  or  necessarily  dependent  for  its  operation  upon 
the  section  or  part  of  a  section  so  held  unconstitutional  or  invalid. 

When  Charter  Takes  Effect. 

Section  102.  For  the  purpose  of  nominating  and  electing  officers 
and  all  purposes  connected  therewith  and  for  the  purpose  of  exercising  the 
powers  of  the  City  as  provided  herein,  this  Charter  shall  take  effect  from 
the  time  of  its  approval  by  the  electors  of  the  City.  For  the  purpose  of 
establishing  departments,  divisions  and  officers,  and  distributing  the 

—si—     •  ;  :o  :\v     :"•->" 


functions  thereof,  and  for  all  other  purposes  it  shall  take  effect  on  the 
first  day  of  January,  1916. 

We,  the  undersigned  members  of  the  Charter  Commission  of  the 
City  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  elected  at  a  general  election  held  on  the  4th  day 
of  November,  1913,  have  framed  and  hereby  propose  the  foregoing  as  a 
Charter  for  the  City  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio. 

Done  in  duplicate  in  the  City  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  this  8th  day  of 
September,  A.  D.  1914. 

THE  CHARTER  COMMISSION 

P.  C.  REMICK,  President. 

W.  E.  BOYNTON,  1st  Vice-President. 

THEODORE  HALL,  2d  Vice-President. 

F.  R.  HOGUE,  Secretary. 

E.  R.  PIERCE,  Treasurer. 


C.   H.   GALLUP 
F.  J.  KEMPEL 
H.  W.  LUETHI 
H.  C.  DIETERICH 
W.  E.  WENNER 


JOHN  J.  KOSKI 
CHAS.  E.  WALLIN 
M.  G.  PECK 
J.  D.  KNOWLTON 


—32— 


YC  09449 


298629 


JS 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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